Popular German Expressions

Just like English, German has many idioms, or expressions typical of a language and culture. When you translate these idioms word for word, they may sound obscure, silly, or just plain meaningless, so to use them appropriately, you need to find out what they really mean.

Some expressions have an English equivalent that’s recognizable, so using them correctly isn’t too hard. For example, the German idiom ein Fisch auf dem Trockenen (ayn fish ouf deym trok-ên-en) literally translates into a fish on the dry, which somewhat resembles the English a fish out of water.

Other German expressions are a little harder to figure out. For instance, if you were to take apart the German expression Da liegt der Hund begraben (da leekt dêr hoont be-grah-ben)word for word, you’d probably feel sorry for the poor dog, because in essence, it means something like That’s where the dog is buried. However, the English equivalent is That’s the heart of the matter.